Game On: An experience unworthy of the franchise
A review of Age of Empires Mobile
Hyderabad: This year has been a year of experimentation within the realtime strategy genre, with game makers exploring new takes, from the unremarkable ‘Elder Scrolls: Castles’ to the highly impressive ‘Heroes of History’. Joining this lineup is ‘Age of Empires Mobile’, developed by TiMi Studio, the team behind ‘Call of Duty Mobile’.
With TiMi promising a 4X experience aimed at introducing younger generations to the charm of the iconic franchise, fans had high expectations. Unfortunately, the result is a mishmash of game modes, offering little more than a glorified city builder that is weighed down by an endless stream of microtransactions. The heart and soul of ‘Age of Empires’ (AoE) is unmistakably absent.
The game begins with the tale of a holy sword that must be charged, following Princess Josephine on her quest to establish an empire. Right from the opening sequence, the game abandons the classic ‘AoE’ controls in favour of a dated citybuilder system, reminiscent of ‘Clash of Clans’. As you summon heroes and construct buildings to raise an army, it becomes evident that the game leaves no room for strategy, tactics, variety, or even basic army formations. Across the many game modes on offer, originality is scarce.
While it’s hard to justify playing a real-time strategy game that requires no actual strategy, it’s equally important to acknowledge that the game does offer several game modes.
Unfortunately, none of them are enjoyable or worth your time. In this scattered approach, what remains is an over-cluttered UI/menu system that provides little to no guidance on how to navigate or play the game effectively. Even after six hours of gameplay, I was still unsure what each button on the screen corresponded to in terms of in-game elements. The game’s Alliance system, however, stood out as it allowed players to overcome challenges collectively.
Like many of the new RTS mobile games, ‘AoE Mobile’ also leans heavily on the use of legendary heroes from history. During my time with the game, I unlocked Joan of Arc, which initially sparked a sense of nostalgia from playing her campaign in ‘AoE II’. Later, I unlocked Cleopatra and Darius the Great.
When you compare ‘AoE’ mobile with something like ‘Heroes of History’ you realise how little has gone into making this game work.
down by poor optimisation. I found the game struggled on my Pixel Pro and at times even failed to register my inputs forcing me to wait for updates to fix the issue. However, over a month since launch the problems persist.
A game that tarnishes the memory of ‘Age of Empires’, this simply isn’t worth your time.
